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Wednesday, January 6, 2016

2016: This is the Year

Well Hello 2016! While I'm not typically one to make a long list of New Year's resolutions, mainly because I am awful at keeping them (if we're being honest, I have zero self control haha), this year feels different for me. 2015 was a BIG year. We got married, traveled a ton, attended a lot of weddings, and moved into a new apartment!

This year, I want to focus on myself and making a better life with my husband. I want to feel healthy and more in control while also starting to really plan for our future! #adulting at its finest. Below are the things I really want to work on this year and my hope is that by putting it all out there in the blogosphere, it will help me to stay accountable of my actions.

1. Get Fit. Literally. Within the last two months, I've really hopped back on the workout train and couldn't be happier. I try to go to the gym at least 4 days a week and have started to incorporate some weight training into my regiment, rather than just sticking with cardio. I started with this 3 week weight training program that I found on PopSugar and I actually stayed committed to it! Now, I continue to do it every other day or so and have stepped up my weights. I'm also trying to become a better runner. I know that may sound silly, but running has always been a struggle for me. I have severe asthma, which was never controlled well enough to withstand long intervals of running. This is part of the reason I swam my entire life. Now that my asthma is well controlled, my mission is to start training my body to run. Since I definitely consider myself a beginner, I've been using treadmill work outs from here to ease into it all. I've also been utilizing the RunKeeper app, when I'm able to exercise outside, which allows me to set training programs for myself and are dependent on my end goals. To start, I'm training for a 5K and have been trying to follow the suggested workouts. I am determined to be able to run 3 miles without stopping/dying!

2. Portion Control. Rather than saying I'm going to diet and blah blah blah, I'm going to focus more on meal portions and what I am eating and at what time of the day. My food selections are already very limited, given that I have deathly bad food allergies. Am I the healthiest eater? Heck no, but I own it (that's got to count for something, right??). I know myself and trying new foods is difficult for me (yes, I know I'm a child). So the best way to tackle a healthier lifestyle is to watch how much I'm eating and not to give in when I think I'm hungry. My goals are to: snack less (definitely going to be difficult as I sit behind a desk all day), drink more water, chew my food more slowly (why do I always scarf my food down and then feel SO sick?!?), and cut out late night meals. Baby steps people... it's all about baby steps!

3. Save. Save. Save. I used to be so good at saving. Besides contributing to my 401K, I always used to automatically deposit a specific amount into saving from every paycheck. However, once we had a wedding to plan and financially contribute to, saving became difficult (or really, it all just went to the wedding!). Now that the wedding is behind us and we are settled into our new place, it's time to get back to my old habits not only for financial security, but also because I want to be able to afford a house and not rent an apartment forever!!!

4. Spend more quality time with friends & family. I am definitely a homebody and love nothing more than sitting on the couch with a good book and a cup of tea or having a night in with the hubs. The problem with this is that it can prevent me from taking the initiative to make plans with friends and family! I feel like this past year flew by and I don't even know what happened. I barely saw some of my closest friends and that is not okay. Here's to actually having a social life in 2016!

5. Buy less. I feel like this goal goes hand-in-hand with #3 above. I'll admit that I definitely shop too much and I have reached points in the past where I spend more money than what I bring in. That is a BIG no no. No shirt, pair of shoes, or bag are worth feeling financially unstable. Therefore, I'm making a vow to only buy things I really really love, will wear and use often, and that won't break the bank. (My hubby is going to love this goal!).

6. Travel often. Whether it be week-long vacations or quick day trips, I want to visit more places and see new things!